- 2 -

PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE OEA/Ser.G

ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES CP/CAJP/GT/DDD-5/06

20 October 2006

COMMITTEE ON JURIDICAL AND POLITICAL AFFAIRS Original: Spanish

Working Group to Prepare a Program of Action for the

Decade of the Americas for the Rights and Dignity

of Persons with Disabilities (2006-2016)

Summary of the meeting of October 13, 2006

1.  Election of the vice chair

Minister Counselor Marcela Matamoros, Alternate Representative of Costa Rica to the OAS, was elected Working Group Vice Chair by acclamation. Her candidacy was proposed by the delegation of the Dominican Republic and seconded by the delegation of Brazil.

The Vice Chair of the Working Group addressed the delegations to thank them for their votes and reaffirmed her commitment to supporting the work and aims of the Group.

2.  Consideration of the Calendar of Activities of the Working Group for the 2006-2007 Term (CP/CAJP/GT/DDD-2/06)

At the start of the discussion on this item, the delegations expressed support for the calendar of activities for the 2006-2007 term proposed by the Chair. The proposed calendar was adopted.

Preparations for the special meeting

a.  Presentation of the Draft Calendar of the Special Meeting (CAJP/GT/DDD-3/06)

Dr. Dante Negro, Director of the OAS Office of International Law, gave a presentation on the draft calendar, including a brief explanation of each of the panels representing the six objectives of the Program of Action.

The delegations made suggestions on the draft calendar. The Chair took note of the remarks, which were to be included in a revised version of the draft agenda.

b.  List of invited guests

The Chair was to send a letter inviting delegations and various organizations to provide inputs for this special meeting.

The Group also decided to distribute a list of possible invited guests for the special meeting, independently of the suggestions received from the member states.

Lastly, November 3, 2006, was set as the deadline for the receipt of suggestions on possible guests, considering that the next meeting of the Working Group was scheduled for November 9, 2006.

3.  Other business

The delegation of Mexico reported that, through the Secretariat, it would distribute a document containing guidelines for the operations of the Committee.